Chris Graham (American football)

Chris Graham

No. 5     Saskatchewan Roughriders
Linebacker
Personal information
Date of birth: September 30, 1984 (1984-09-30) (age 27)
Place of birth: Indianapolis, Indiana
Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	Weight: 235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
College: Michigan
Undrafted in 2008
No regular season or postseason appearances
Career history
New Orleans Saints (2008)* Detroit Lions (2008–2009)* Braunschweig Lions (2010}* Pittsburgh Power (2011) Saskatchewan Roughriders(2011-present) *Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Honorable mention All-Big Ten (2007)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2008
Tackles	--
Sacks	--
Forced fumbles	--
Stats at NFL.com

Chris De'monte Graham (born on September 30, 1984 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American football linebacker who is currently a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Michigan.

Graham has also been a member of the Detroit Lions.

Graham was a member of the Pittsburgh Power of the Arena Football League.

Playing career

High School
Chris played most of his high school football at Warren Central High School in Indianapolis. He was an all-state Linebacker in Indiana and led his team to a state championship while setting a record for number of tackles in a season (180). In his senior year he also recorded 19 TFL, 4 Sacks, 1 Int., and 1 Def. TD. He was a 4 star recruit and had offers from Tennessee, Michigan, Purdue, Indiana, and Kentucky.

College
Chris held offers from numerous top D1 programs but ultimately chose to play his college ball at the University of Michigan under Lloyd Carr. He played alongside players such as David Harris (NYJ), Lamarr Woodley (PIT), Leon Hall (CIN), Jake Long (MIA), Chad Henne (MIA), and Braylon Edwards (NYJ). He played in games as a true freshman, and got his first start as a sophomore against Northern Illinois where he recorded 10 tackles including 2 TFL’s. Chris was a four-year letterman and appeared in 46 career games and made 20 starts at linebacker ... contributed 163 stops, 11 tackles for loss, one sack, two fumble recovery and six pass breakups during career. In his senior year he won the Roger Zarkoff Award as Michigan’s top linebacker. He was also received All-Big Ten Honorable Mention voted on by the Big Ten Media.

NFL
Chris was projected to be drafted in the late rounds of the 2008 NFL Draft, however he went undrafted. Chris was then signed by the New Orleans Saints, but was eventually released. After trying out for 4 teams Chris was signed by the Detroit Lions. He was first signed to the practice squad and then made roster for the entire offseason but released before preseason. After being released from Lions Chris decided to return to the University of Michigan to finish his degree in General Studies. Chris is working on making a return to the NFL as a LB, FB, or Special Teams players.

GFL
In 2010 Chris Graham was signed by the Braunschweig Lions, a record setting football team in Germany by winning 7 National Championship titles. He will most likely play LB and probably special teams. GFL experts say that Chris Graham is probably the most talented player ever entering the German Football League. Chris dominated the league for one season racking up over 15 sacks, but left to pursue other opportunities.

AFL
He signed with the Pittsburgh Power of the Arena Football League and played with them during the 2011 season.

CFL
He left the Power and signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League and was placed on the Developmental Squad following training camp. Graham was placed on the active roster periodically during the 2011 CFL season.

Personal life

Chris has seen his fair share of hardships in his life. Chris grew up in the inner city of Indianapolis. Gangs, drugs, and violence constantly surrounded him in Indianapolis. In 1998 his older brother Lionel Christian Graham was murdered in Indianapolis. His brother’s death only confirmed Chris’ defiance of the bad influences in his neighborhood. Chris and his two other brothers used sports as their way out. The three brothers excelled in sports such as Basketball, Football, Wrestling, and Track. They transferred schools to focus on their studies and sports because they knew they had the potential to play in college. Sports were their motivation to get an education as well. They knew if they did not put up the grades they could not play sports. So they were in schools 6 days a week and 5 nights a week. They had tutors to make sure they were keeping up their grades and when they were not on the playing field they were focusing on their studies. This motivation is what convinced the Michigan Football Staff that Chris was ready for the next level. In 2008 tragedy struck Chris’ life again when his Sister Jacqueline Love Graham was killed in a house fire in Indianapolis. Chris received his degree from the University of Michigan School of Literature, Science, and Arts in December 2009. He returned on a half scholarship to finish his remaining 13 credit hours.

NFL Linebacker Comparison

Many experts have said that although Chris has excellent speed and moves well in pursuit in any direction, he is too short to be an excellent linebacker in the NFL. However, his strength, aggressiveness, and physical attributes are comparable to many top LB that are ≤ 6’0” including Lofa Tatupu (6’0”), London Fletcher (5’10”), and Gary Brackett (5’11”).

External links

• Detroit Lions bio
• Michigan Wolverines bio

Persondata
Name	Graham, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 30, 1984
Place of birth	Indianapolis, Indiana
Date of death
Place of death